A Critic’s Review Of The Bold and the Beautiful: Faux Pas & Wasted Opportunity

When it comes to The Bold and the Beautiful, every fan has their own opinion – and Soap Hub is no different. For five days, we sat and watched the good, the bad, and everything in between, and now we offer you a handy review, and a cheeky critique, of B&B’s week that was.

The Bold and the Beautiful: A Critic’s Week In Review

Call me naive, call me ill-informed, but I think a headwriter doubling down on their mistakes, rather than making a sincere effort to course correct, is most unbecoming. I for one am still sore that Bradley Bell not only christened Steffy Forrester Finnegan’s (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) babe Hayes but after the fans pointed out the faux pas — Taylor’s (Krista Allen) maiden name is actually Hamilton whereas Hayes is the last name of her first husband/abuser — he scripted Taylor to effusively praise the moniker as if that would somehow absolve him. It did not.

Then, if Rena Sofer is to be believed — and I for one think that she is — The Powers That Be tells her that they’re unable to come up with any meaningful, worthwhile material that will keep her on the front burner, which results in the superstar, rightfully, jumping ship. Really? Sitting here I can come up with at least five juicy scenarios that would have kept Quinn Fuller Forrester in the fore for years to come. Heck, my colleague Amber Sinclair not only thought of them, but she also published them right here on Soap Hub.

Adding insult to injury, the show scripted an off-screen scarpering for the Queen of Scheme and had Carter Walton’s (Lawrence Saint-Victor) monologue to Katie Logan (Heather Tom) about how his and Quinn’s relationship fell apart because they both reached the conclusion that they wanted different things. Hell, there’s your story. Don’t tell us the problems that these two wrestled with, show them wrestling. That’s Soap Opera 101.

I’m also of the opinion that it would behoove Bell to stop treating his audience like it’s not watching the show every day. We do. We follow this skein day in and day out, meaning we do not require the constant recapitulation either through oft-quoted dialogue or oft-repeated flashbacks.

An episode of The Bold and the Beautiful runs only 19 minutes sans commercials but if you were to eliminate the gratuitous ingemination, you wouldn’t be left with much.

For years, I thrilled to and championed Bell’s often brilliant storymanship: Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) and Thorne?! (It somehow worked) Brooke and Deacon?! (It REALLY worked, and talk about HOT!) Taylor’s dead, then she’s alive, then dead, then alive. Attempted murder by a python! And who would have ever guessed that I’d actually root for Sheila Carter (Kimberlin Brown) to get one over on the Forresters and find her happily ever after? (But root for I did.)

But for some time now (okay, for a LONG time now), I’ve found myself watching a show that I no longer recognize — would it kill someone in that writer’s room to get something, anything right? — nor like.

And there are only so many times I can console myself with the memories of what once was. I know Bradley Bell can do better. He has done better. Much, much better.

Further B&B Musings

* Gosh, I forgot how enjoyable Hope Logan Spencer (Annika Noelle) can be. If only she’d find her backbone more often.

* Since when is Justin Barber (Aaron D. Spears) on the straight and narrow and working for Forrester Creations? Wasn’t he supposed to be Ridge Forrester’s (Thorsten Kaye) ace in the hole when came to taking down Big Bad Bill Spencer (Don Diamont)? Yet another teased and dropped plot-cum-wasted opportunity.

The Bold and the Beautiful airs weekdays on CBS. For an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.

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